Marks and Spencer 2015 Annual Report Download - page 23

GOVERNANCEFINANCIAL STATEMENTS
21
ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2015
OUR PERFORMANCE OUR BUSINESS
INNOVATION
Customer Insight We know our customers
look to M&S for innovative ideas. In a
crowded retail market, they want to know
that when they shop with us they will
get high-quality products
that are only available at
M&S and are better than
ever before.
Products & Channels Over a quarter of our
Food products were new this year. And our
clothing ranges were constantly refreshed
with wearable interpretations of the latest
trends. As the UK market leader in lingerie,
our bra fi t service is popular with our
customers, however one in four will not go
into store for a bra fi t. So our team of
software engineers developed a digital
solution. Our digital Bra Fit tool gives
customers an accurate and convenient way
of measuring themselves in the privacy of
their own home. R ea d m o re on p26 -27.
Brand & People Store presentation is crucial;
we have great products and we want to
showcase them at their best. So this year
around 5,000 colleagues trained in
The M&S Way, supported by an innovative
online learning tool to promote consistent
visual merchandising standards across
our GM ranges. Our marketing campaigns
constantly break new ground. Our
‘Adventures In…’ Food ads used new
photography techniques to showcase our
food innovation with dancing fruit and
bursting berries. Read more on p28 and 30.
Last summer, consumer confi dence moved
into positive territory for the fi rst time in almost
a d ecade as p eople felt more se cure abou t the
macroeconomic environment. Although it has
fl uctuated since, confi dence has remained
co nsistently higher than in previous years . T here
remain regional di erences throughout the UK.
But wherever they are, consumers are looking
for both value and quality.
CONSUMER CONFIDENCE INDEX
INTEGRITY
Customer Insight Our customers tell us that
they trust us to do the right thing. At M&S, we
pride ourselves on the high levels of integrity
in our products and in our
supply chain. In a competitive
and challenging food
market, customers know
that we will not cut corners
when it comes to the
quality and provenance
of the food that we sell.
Products & Channels Traceability is key. Due
to our close relationship with our suppliers, we
can pinpoint the very herd that produces any
particular batch of our milk. This year, a third of
our food products came from Gold and Silver
sustainabilit y standard producers, in line with
our Plan A target. Today, 64% of our food and
clothing products have a Pl an A quality, up
from 57% last year. The quality either relates to
the materials that the products are made from
or to the manufacturing process.
Brand & People Since we started our
Shwopping initiative in 2012, customers have
shwopped 10.6 million clothing garments for
Oxfam, worth £7.3 million to the charity. Our
Behind the Barcode initiative ensured that
colleagues in our International stores were up
to speed when it came to brand awareness
and the service standards that make M&S a
world-class retailer.
INSPIRATION
Customer Insight Our customers
tell us they want an inspiring shopping
experience every time they enter
an M&S store or visit our website.
Th ey also w ant to see r an ges t hat
are creative and exciting. We seek
to inspire our customers with every
product they buy from us, be it a
prepared meal or a raincoat.
Products & Channels Our ranges were
positively received by the fashion press this year.
Customers’ feedback about the quality and
style of our clothing ranges has improved, and
they have noticed the better fi t of our clothing.
With our Food ranges we want to delight our
customers and we independently test all our
products for taste and quality, ensuring our
products are always a cut above the rest.
Re ad mor e o n p2 6 -27
Brand & People Our new M&S logo
emphasises the heritage and quality for which
we are known. It is just one of the ways that we
have inspired customers this year. At Christmas,
we carried out random acts of kindness all
across the UK. The strategy forged a warm
connection between our people and our
customers at a special time of year.
Re ad mor e o n p3 0 .
IN TOUCH
Customer Insight To stay relevant, our
customers tell us we need to stay in touch
with them, so we constantly talk to them and
monitor their spending habits. As well as
analysing responses from 60,000 customers
a month, our CIU looks at 600 million unique
customer transactions a year. We use the
data to help us give our customers a great
experience every time they
shop with us.
Products & Channels It is crucial that we are
in touch with our customers through every
channel available. M&S.com uses bespoke
content to communicate with our customers
24 hours a day and is regularly updated to take
into account customer feedback. Social media is
an increasingly important way of communicating
and wehave a social media ‘audience’ of
over 2.6million via platforms and websites
such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Re ad mor e o n p2 8 .
Brand & People We pride ourselves on the
connections we have with the communities
in which we work – staying in touch with the
communities where we operate is central
to Plan A . Whether it’s through the volunteer
work of our store colleagues, through our
partnerships with local charities, or via
community-based initiatives like the Big Beach
Clean-Up, we aim to be a force for good in
the towns and cities where we have stores
and operations.
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